Farewell, Weslyn

Former Alberta Liberal MLAs Bill Bonko and Weslyn Mather at a 2007 event in Calgary. 

I was fortunate enough to work with Weslyn Mather for two years during the latter half of her 2004-2008 term as an Alberta Liberal MLA. I was impressed by Weslyn's deeply sincere commitment to public service, particularly her advocacy for the welfare of children. She was also a powerful advocate for accessible child care for everyone, an issue Alberta struggles with to this day. I was very saddened when Weslyn lost her bid for re-election in 2008; she was a wonderful MLA and public servant, and the Alberta Legislature was a poorer place without her.

I'm even more saddened to learn that Weslyn passed away yesterday. She was a kind, compassionate human being, the sort of person you're grateful to have known, the sort of person you're glad answered the call to public service.

I hope Weslyn's family and friends will find some comfort in their memories of this remarkable woman. May she rest in peace knowing she did her part to help build a better Alberta. 

Danielle Smith: Secret Liberal

Back in November 2006, I was almost a year into my six-and-a-half year tenure with the Alberta Liberal Caucus, then the Official Opposition. On November 30, the caucus held a Christmas open house. I took photos and the images languished in a folder for almost a decade.

But yesterday, my computer, which shuttles through my photography folder, randomly chose the above image, out of thousands of photos stretching back to the 1940s, as my wallpaper.

Hey, wait a minute, I thought. That woman on the left talking to Wade Izzard...is that...Danielle Smith? At an Alberta Liberal function?

Click on the photo for a full size image and decide for yourself if that is indeed a young Smith. Of course even if it is Ms. Smith, there's nothing nefarious about her presence at an Alberta Liberal Caucus event; it was, after all, an open house. But it does tickle my funny bone to imagine how hardcore right-wingers would react if they took this image out of context and decried Ms. Smith as a closet liberal, consorting with the likes of Bill Bonko (seen at right).

Disaster Down South

Today I'm thinking of my friends in southern Alberta, who are struggling against a rising tide of floodwaters. Several years ago Sylvia and I enjoyed a lovely long weekend stay at a lodge in Canmore (Canmore Crossing, seen above back on Thanksgiving 2007), thanks to the generosity of then-MLA Bill Bonko. It's a beautiful town, and I hope its people and those in other affected communities recover quickly.